A software error in New Jersey’s motor vehicle system mistakenly registered about 6,600 non-U.S. citizens to vote over the course of a year, Governor Mikie Sherrill announced Tuesday. An initial review found that around 400 of those individuals went on to vote in at least one election.
Speaking at a State House news conference, Sherrill said there is no evidence that the registration error affected the outcome of any election. According to the governor, the glitch began in June 2023 and remained undetected until it was fixed a year later. She said state election officials will “shortly” notify everyone who was improperly registered and are already working to remove those names from the voter rolls.
Sherrill also criticized the previous administration under former Governor Phil Murphy, accusing it of failing to disclose the issue and pledging to ensure those responsible face consequences.
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The announcement quickly drew a response from the Trump administration, which renewed its call for Congress to pass legislation tightening voting requirements. The White House argued on social media that the proposed bill would prevent “this exact scenario from happening” by requiring states to submit voter registration rolls to the federal government.
The development comes as New Jersey continues to resist a Trump administration demand to hand over its voter registration database ahead of the November midterm elections, which are expected to play a key role in determining control of Congress.
“Every illegal ballot dilutes the voice of a lawful American citizen and undermines election integrity,” the White House mentioned in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “The American people demand secure elections. Congress must pass the SAVE America Act without delay,” the administration added, referring to the legislation by its partisan title.
Federal law requires U.S. citizenship to vote, and documented cases of noncitizens casting ballots remain extremely rare. Opponents of the Republican-backed proposal argue it would make voting more difficult for millions of eligible Americans, particularly immigrants, people of color, and low-income voters.
Sherrill, who took office in January after serving in Congress, said accountability has been one of her administration’s priorities.
“I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,” Sherrill stated. “This failure didn’t occur under my watch, but accountability starts now. I am taking action to prevent anything like it from occurring in the future and make sure those responsible are held accountable.”
New Jersey operates a “motor voter” system through its Motor Vehicle Commission, allowing eligible residents to register to vote while applying for driver’s licenses or identification cards. Applicants must certify that they are U.S. citizens before being registered.
According to Sherrill, the software malfunction caused that safeguard to fail between June 2023 and June 2024.
“During that one-year period, about 6,600 people answered ‘No’ when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen when applying for drivers’ licenses and identification cards. But through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway,” Sherrill stated.
The Motor Vehicle Commission’s current technology contractor, Idemia, is scheduled to be replaced next year. Acting Commission Chair Rosalie Johnson said the state is already transitioning to a different vendor.
“We are actively working with a new vendor to ensure this type of technical malfunction does not happen in the future,” Johnson said.
Idemia, a multinational technology security company headquartered outside Paris, said it has partnered with New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission for more than four decades.
Its responsibility is “to transmit information through the motor vehicle system,” the company said in a statement. “The voter registration information is transmitted to the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Elections, which is ultimately responsible for verifying eligibility to vote.”
Sherrill said she was informed of the issue on June 15 and immediately ordered an investigation. Her administration has hired the Roseland-based CSG law firm to examine what happened, and she pledged to release the findings as soon as the inquiry is complete.
The governor also addressed a separate claim made by the Trump administration that 35,000 noncitizens are registered to vote in New Jersey. She said the Department of Homeland Security has yet to provide evidence supporting that figure.
“If it receives any credible information, we will, of course, investigate it,” Sherrill said.
Republicans in Congress cited the disclosure as another reason to advance the voting legislation, which passed the House in February by a 218-213 vote but has stalled in the Senate. New Jersey’s House delegation split along party lines, with Democrats voting against the bill and Republicans supporting it.
Among other provisions, the legislation would limit voting by mail, prohibit students from using college identification cards for voter registration, and require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, before registering to vote. The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that roughly 21 million Americans do not have easy access to those documents.
In New Jersey, Senate Republican leaders Anthony Bucco of Morris County and Declan O’Scanlon of Monmouth County called Tuesday for voter registration through the Motor Vehicle Commission to be suspended until the investigation concludes. They also renewed their push for a statewide voter identification law.
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Concerns about the Motor Vehicle Commission’s technology predate the latest disclosure. In an April 2021 letter to then-Commission Chair Sue Fulton, State Senator Kristin Corrado criticized what she described as ongoing technology management failures under the Murphy administration.
“What safeguards have you implemented to prevent undocumented immigrants, who are ineligible to participate in state and national elections, from being registered to vote when they apply for a driver’s license?” wrote Corrado, a Republican from Passaic County and former county clerk responsible for certifying election results.